Forgotten Ground Regained

Tha Spawnen a Scousenlish

Martin Kennedy Yates
A wa bornt on tha browen banken ov a browen rivernwhere tyd im turnen an curven lyk turdas im slyden slownish owt ta sea an wherevern / Tha fust nyt wa frittful fistyt an curl-clenchenslep badlish in watty bed ov bent reeden dremt badlish dreamen of badden diayen to cummen / Wen a woken a wa chimdley-choken an chuffin in smokelish stench ov chemic-clouden tha cud stunt an stilt th shapin ov tung an lungen an a lossen langwij anaull /A cunner lern no worden jus chirp lyk bird mewlen lyk gull on miserish mornen howlen an honken lyk ferry in hawfog /Wen a tryd ta spake a cryd lyk crake ka-ka Kaa ka-ka Kee a screechen ka-ka Ky an a flappen ma fledglish armen frantik as fuken on tha browen banken dowen by tha wattern wer tha sky surgen an tha salt-sea swellen / An ooh tha fust feel on ma feet o tha watter a winch an a wep as them waven wasshen over an em slobbern an sucken so am sinken in mudlish /Slownish an shurlish am slidden enta shinglen deeplisher dowen to myn ankln ma neezen ma thyzen / then tha cold kynda cauten me im tek me by suppryzen / an tha salt-watter tauten me im opn myn eyzen //
These poems are written in an invented language that mimics some of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic features of Middle English, as well as drawing on the regional accents and dialects of the poet's own origins in the Midlands and North West of England - most notably the Black Country, the Potteries and Liverpool. To get a feel and flow, just read phonetically, out loud and keep going. Enjoy letting the alliterative beat and rhythm carry you along, and don't worry about getting it wrong!
Copyright © Martin Kennedy Yates, 2022 Originally Published in Butcher’s Dog, issue 17, Sept 2022. Reprinted in Forgotten Ground Regained: A Journal of Alliterative Verse, New Seies, Issue 4, Fall, 2024